WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says former FBI Director James Comey is a "showboat" and a "grandstander" who has brought turmoil to the agency.

Trump, who abruptly fired Comey earlier this week, tells NBC News in an interview Thursday that the FBI was in "virtual turmoil" less than a year ago and hasn't recovered.

Asked about Trump's description of Comey, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump's comment was "probably based on the numerous appearances" that Comey has made. Comey has testified before Congress, in public and closed sessions, several times this year.

His public appearances regarding the FBI investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election were nationally televised.

Speaking in Chicago on Thursday, Jackson says all studies of alleged voter fraud have found it doesn't exist. However, Jackson says there is substantial evidence of voter suppression.

Jackson says Russian interference wasn't the most troubling issue during the 2016 election campaign, it was voter suppression. He noted reduced voting hours, the moving of polling places and the curtailment of Sunday voting in North Carolina suppressed the African-American vote.

Immigration agents aid in arrests of accused gang members

WASHINGTON — Immigration and Customs Enforcement says its agents have helped arrest more than 1,300 accused gang members across the United States in the last six weeks.

The agency says 1,098 suspected gang members were arrested on a variety of federal and state criminal charges, while 280 others face administrative immigration charges. The announcement of the gang sweep, part of an enforcement effort launched in 2005, comes amid a Trump administration effort to crack down on street gangs as part of a broader border security and illegal immigration enforcement effort.

Fewer than a third of those arrested in the latest operation were foreigners. ICE says 384 foreigners who were arrested were living in the U.S. illegally and 61 had permission to be here.

Heroin epidemic pushing up hepatitis C infections in US

NEW YORK — The heroin epidemic is driving up hepatitis C infections, with the biggest increase in people in their 20s, U.S. health officials said Thursday.

The number of new infections nearly tripled in five years, to about 2,400 in 2015. The virus is spread by sharing needles to inject drugs, and the increase coincided with a surge in heroin use.

But officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention think the reported infections are only a fraction of the actual number. Most people don't get sick for many years, so they aren't tested and don't know they are infected. The CDC estimates that the number of infections in 2015 was 34,000, or twice as many as the estimate for 2010.

The biggest jump in new infections is in people ages 20 to 29, the CDC said.

NFL rejects reinstatement bid of suspended Browns WR Josh Gordon

Josh Gordon won’t be riding to the rescue of the Browns anytime soon.

A source said Thursday the NFL denied the reinstatement petition of the suspended wide receiver, but he can reapply in the fall. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation, did not know the specific date this fall Gordon could file for reinstatement again.

USA Today first reported Gordon’s bid for re-entering the league had been rejected. Gordon applied for reinstatement on March 1, his business manager, Michael Johnson, told ESPN then.

Gordon, a 2013 All-Pro selection, has missed 43 of the past 48 games because of recurring violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy.